More women than men have eye disease, including age-related macular degeneration, cataracts, and glaucoma. These numbers will only continue to increase, according to a study by the organization Prevent Blindness. As eye doctors know, prevention and early detection are crucial to lessening the effects of these diseases that can steal patients’ vision.Read More
With more doctors nearing retirement and newer doctors increasingly choosing nonclinical careers, many medical practices are looking to non-physician providers (NPPs) to fill the gaps. But there’s another reason to consider hiring “physician extenders” like nurse practitioners and physician assistants: evidence shows they can make a significant difference in improving your patients’ experience—and reduce costs. Here’s how.Read More
There’s a movement underway in health care. Some would even call it a revolution. Patient engagement, doctor-patient communication, and shared decision-making are growing by leaps and bounds, driven largely by technology. Gone are the days when doctors scribbled private and incomprehensible notes in medical charts, inaccessible to patients. Now, the OpenNotes movement is ushering in a new era of transparency in medicine, to the benefit of doctors and patients alike.
In a previous post, we talked about how patient satisfaction surveys can help health care providers improve. As we discussed, certain factors are well within doctors’ control—such as whether they listen and show respect to patients, and if they explain things in a way that’s easy for patients to understand.Read More
Good doctor-patient communication is the cornerstone of high-quality health care. Everything from establishing trust to ensuring positive surgical outcomes hinges on how well providers and patients communicate. For doctors of pediatric patients, however, there are some unique challenges. Talking to parents of patients brings with it issues of health literacy, culture, and privacy. Here’s a look at some of the issues doctors who treat children and teens face, and how a thoughtful approach to patient education can help.
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Patient satisfaction is more important than ever. It’s increasingly being recognized as a key component in how patients choose providers, whether patients have positive outcomes, and how practices and hospitals are reimbursed. Health care organizations are looking to leaders from the hospitality industry such as The Ritz-Carlton for insights on improving the patient experience.
